Related Articles

Targeting your abdominal muscles during a 15-minute workout might leave you doused in sweat and with the satisfying feeling of aching muscles. However, don't expect the challenging workout to have burned a significant number of calories. While core exercises are beneficial as you endeavor to build a strong, healthy body, they're not an effective way to burn calories to help you lose weight.

A Low Caloric Burn

Fifteen minutes might pass slowly when you're working through ab exercises such as crunches, but the workout won't burn enough calories to significantly contribute to weight loss. HealthStatus notes that a 165-pound person burns just 84 calories in 15 minutes of moderate-intensity situps or crunches and 151 calories in 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity situps or crunches. Although you might incorporate other ab exercises in your workout, the caloric burn of such strength-training exercises is comparably low.

Get Moving for a Higher Burn

Losing weight requires a dedication to cardiovascular exercises, as this form of workout yields a significant calorie burn. You'll burn less than 200 calories performing ab crunches for 15 minutes, but your caloric burn is higher while performing cardio. A 165-pound person burns 198 calories bicycling around 15 mph for 15 minutes and 215 calories running at 7 mph for 15 minutes. Most notably, these forms of exercise are possible to sustain for a longer duration than ab exercises; for example, bicycling for an hour results in nearly 800 calories burned.

Stronger Abs, Faster Metabolism

Whether your fitness goal is to lose a few pounds or just maintain your current physique, don't be discouraged by the low caloric burn of ab exercises. Improving the strength of your core region -- and other parts of your body through other exercises -- can contribute in a minor way to your caloric burn. The more muscle you add to your body, the faster your metabolism. As this rate increases, your body burns calories at a higher rate, regardless of the activity you perform.

Strengthen Your Abs, Improve Your Health

Core exercises strengthen not only your abs, but also your obliques and back. As you improve the strength of this muscle group, it's possible to notice an improvement in several areas of your health. A stronger core promotes better posture, which can lead to advantages such as a decrease in back pain and more confident appearance. Strength in your core also improves the ease with which you perform movements such as bending and turning.

Resources (1)

About the Author

Toronto-based journalist William McCoy has been writing since 1997, specializing in topics such as sports, nutrition and health. He serves as the Studio's sports and recreation section expert. McCoy is a journalism graduate of Ryerson University.